Fluxx by Looney Labs is, I think, an increasingly well known card game with a growing number of expansions and spinoffs. While I've played Zombie Fluxx, Cthulhu Fluxx, Star Fluxx, and Monty Python Fluxx, I have a strong soft spot for the original game and first spinoff EcoFluxx.
In Fluxx, the rules are ever changing, including the conditions for victory. There are five main types of cards: Rules, Actions, Keepers, Goals, and Creepers. The game starts with players having a hand of 3 cards and a basic rule in play: draw one, play one. When yellow Rules cards enter a player's hand, they can play them to change the rules, which can result in things such as larger hand size, more cards drawn or played, or limits on Keepers on the table. Keepers, the green cards, are generally the key to winning and are objects or concepts such as Earth, War, Cake, Trees, or Party. Goals, colored pink, typically ask for two Keepers within a theme, such as Earth and Peace for the Goal "World Peace." Blue Action cards let you do something, such as "swap hands with another player" or "draw two play one." Creepers are colored black and generally block a player's chance at victory; to be perfectly honest, I generally play without them because my group started playing Fluxx far enough back that they didn't exist for most of our experience with the game, but they definitely add another layer of complexity.
The game is relatively simple in that context, but because players are constantly changing the goals and rules, it can be hard to keep up. Which, I think, is a big part of the value of Fluxx in all its varieties. It teaches players to be flexible, and to think strategically about when they play their cards, because what might be a great hand one turn might be lackluster the next. Games of Fluxx sometimes take as little as two minutes or as long as two hours. Fluxx adapts well to both small and large numbers of players, especially when combining two or more sets, as I regularly do with Fluxx and EcoFluxx. Even better, Fluxx is easy to transport, quick to set up, and simple to learn, making it great for trips and new groups. All these things add up to create one of the mainstays of my game collection that I can play with pretty much anyone.
Showing posts with label cards. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cards. Show all posts
4/26/2013
4/21/2013
Games I Love: Bang!
It's a pretty simple explanation why I like Bang!(click the British flag in the corner for English!) It's because Bang! is a spaghetti western turned card game where draw can mean pulling a card or shooting someone from across the table. The game itself has a fairly easy learning curve, though it definitely helps to play with someone who has played before.
There are four roles to play in Bang!: the sheriff, the renegade, the deputy, and the outlaw. In a given game, there will be only one sheriff and one renegade (except in certain expansions), but the number of deputies and outlaws will increase with the number of players. Generally the outlaws will be the largest group, at least equaling the sheriff and deputies. The sheriff is the only player whose role is revealed openly (with a big shiny badge!), and that player's job is to shoot the outlaws and renegade. The deputies are meant to help in this job, but as they're not always known to the sheriff, a lot of bluffing and "false deputizing" can be involved here. The renegade wants everyone dead; they can only win if the sheriff dies and the outlaws are also dead. The outlaws simply want the sheriff dead and anyone else is just collateral. Players also get to choose from a random set of two options for their character, each of which has a special ability.
Players start with a set number of life points and those life points also determine their starting hand size. The sheriff starts play, drawing two cards and playing as many as they choose. They can only shoot people within the range of their gun (using a Bang! card, from which the game gets it's name), beer heals them, and other various objects and items can enhance the special skills of each character. The mystery and bluffing that goes on in Bang! is what really makes the game shine. Much bantering and yelling has ensued in every game I've played, with players actively commenting on the actions of one another and trying to convince the sheriff of their roles.
I've played Bang! with family members as young as 9 (she won her first game!) and it's an game we play now and again at my gaming group. Bang! is easy to transport, quick to set up, fairly simple to learn, and because you play against players who can bluff and because each character has special powers, it can be challenging and complex despite how simple it is. It's a great game that can be played over and over because each session can be completely different than the last.
There are four roles to play in Bang!: the sheriff, the renegade, the deputy, and the outlaw. In a given game, there will be only one sheriff and one renegade (except in certain expansions), but the number of deputies and outlaws will increase with the number of players. Generally the outlaws will be the largest group, at least equaling the sheriff and deputies. The sheriff is the only player whose role is revealed openly (with a big shiny badge!), and that player's job is to shoot the outlaws and renegade. The deputies are meant to help in this job, but as they're not always known to the sheriff, a lot of bluffing and "false deputizing" can be involved here. The renegade wants everyone dead; they can only win if the sheriff dies and the outlaws are also dead. The outlaws simply want the sheriff dead and anyone else is just collateral. Players also get to choose from a random set of two options for their character, each of which has a special ability.
Players start with a set number of life points and those life points also determine their starting hand size. The sheriff starts play, drawing two cards and playing as many as they choose. They can only shoot people within the range of their gun (using a Bang! card, from which the game gets it's name), beer heals them, and other various objects and items can enhance the special skills of each character. The mystery and bluffing that goes on in Bang! is what really makes the game shine. Much bantering and yelling has ensued in every game I've played, with players actively commenting on the actions of one another and trying to convince the sheriff of their roles.
I've played Bang! with family members as young as 9 (she won her first game!) and it's an game we play now and again at my gaming group. Bang! is easy to transport, quick to set up, fairly simple to learn, and because you play against players who can bluff and because each character has special powers, it can be challenging and complex despite how simple it is. It's a great game that can be played over and over because each session can be completely different than the last.
4/15/2013
Games I Love: Get Bit!
In Get Bit! You play a robot (or in the newer version, a pirate) swimming for your life to escape a robot (or pirate) munching shark. To do this you have to bluff or luck your way into playing different and higher value cards than your opponents. It's a relatively simple game, but that's part of the appeal in my mind.
Get Bit! is quick to pick up and play because the rules are intuitive for the most part. Play a higher card? You're farther from the shark. Closest to the shark? You get bitten. Get bitten? Lose a limb. Lose all your limbs? Sink to the bottom of the ocean and lose the game. The only potentially confusing rule is what to do when two players play the same card. Those players don't move positions except to be next to one another. That means that players should hope to avoid matching the cards of other players, because a match at the wrong time could be potentially disastrous.
While there's not so many cards that card-counting is impossible, but there's still a degree of bluffing involved. Similarly, there's a degree of strategy in deciding if you should allow yourself to get bitten. While it's theoretically possible to survive a game without getting bitten, it's unlikely and grows ever more unlikely the more players are involved in the game. Generally it seems better strategy to choose carefully when you take your bites so that you can play your cards at the most opportune moments.
It's notable that a pseudo prequel to Get Bit! called Walk the Plank! which is just about to finish a Kickstarter campaign (26 hours as this is being written). While the rules are different and neither needs the other to be played, it's pretty cool that Walk the Plank! and Get Bit! can link together.
Get Bit! is quick to pick up and play because the rules are intuitive for the most part. Play a higher card? You're farther from the shark. Closest to the shark? You get bitten. Get bitten? Lose a limb. Lose all your limbs? Sink to the bottom of the ocean and lose the game. The only potentially confusing rule is what to do when two players play the same card. Those players don't move positions except to be next to one another. That means that players should hope to avoid matching the cards of other players, because a match at the wrong time could be potentially disastrous.
While there's not so many cards that card-counting is impossible, but there's still a degree of bluffing involved. Similarly, there's a degree of strategy in deciding if you should allow yourself to get bitten. While it's theoretically possible to survive a game without getting bitten, it's unlikely and grows ever more unlikely the more players are involved in the game. Generally it seems better strategy to choose carefully when you take your bites so that you can play your cards at the most opportune moments.
It's notable that a pseudo prequel to Get Bit! called Walk the Plank! which is just about to finish a Kickstarter campaign (26 hours as this is being written). While the rules are different and neither needs the other to be played, it's pretty cool that Walk the Plank! and Get Bit! can link together.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)